Speaking the day after his death, the comedian and actor's wife, Barbara, said she had no idea how he had died, but said he may have had a fit.

“We don’t know yet what happened," she told the press outside the home she shared with Rik and their three children. "He had a strong heart so I don’t think it was a heart attack.

“But we just don’t know until the coroner’s report. Maybe he had a fit, maybe it was his heart, we just don’t know.”

Rik Mayall

Friends of the star, who was best known for his roles in 'Bottom, 'The Young Ones' and 'Blackadder, said he had never fully recovered following his quad bike accident in 1998, which left him in a coma for five days.

Laurence Marks, who co-created the political comedy 'The New Statesman', said Rik’s memory had deteriorated so much that he sometimes didn't recognise friends.